Madelaine Shirohara

Name: Shirohara, Madelaine

Gender: Female

Age: 16

Grade: 10th grade

Extra Curricular Activity: Writing club and archery club(of previous school), Swim club (current)

School: Barry Coleson HighAppearance: Madelaine possesses a slim form that is slight of frame and petite, yet stands tall with a strong stature, thanks to the fact that she is part-caucasian. Being somewhat tall for her gender and her age, her height has often caused her to stand out, particularly among girls. However this has become a lesser case now that she has transferred to America. She tends to keep her dark brown hair pulled back into low, unkempt ponytail pinned down with a thin, red ribbon. Bangs cut into a fringe curl inwards, framing her face, as do the forelocks curling slightly towards the inside of her face. Madelaine's facial features are soft, yet well defined, making her appear somewhat childish, yet mature at the same time. Her dark eyes almond shaped, and rounded, framed by eyebrows that are angular and form a rather narrow curve, giving her a stately appearance. However, her rounded eyes and small mouth betray her age, hinting a bit of childishness, but making her seem good-natured. There are some who have often speculated(not that they would mention this in front of her) that she appears to be either a childlike adult, or an adult in a child's form. Due to time spent on the swim team, her skin is currently tanned. Biography: Madelaine was born to a Japanese mother who married an exchange student from America while still in high school. It would be easily to conclude that the couple, though they believed that they were ready to raise a family, were in fact unprepared to meet the needs of a growing child. Beginning at a very early age, Madelaine learned to fulfill her own needs and look after herself. By the time she reached the age of thirteen, she began to feel as though she was the only 'true adult' in the house next to her well-meaning, yet inexperienced parents. Oftentimes, it was Madelaine who had to look after her parents, encouraging them to be more responsible. There were times when she seemed more like a sibling or a colleague rather than a daughter. As a result, her own needs and wants were set aside. This was even more pronounced when her sister was born, as Madelaine had to put some of her own time into looking after her new sibling, whom she loved dearly. Because of her efforts, the family managed to stay together and pull through difficult times.

Outside of family life, Madelaine stood out among her schoolmates as a cool, confident, yet dependable person who seemed to be at a higher level of maturity than most. She could easily be described as the type of person who would 'keep to herself while looking after others'. Indeed, though she always seemed to prefer being alone, she always felt inclined to lend a helping hand when needed, giving advice, settling disputes, protecting her fellow schoolmates from those who would bully others.

During her time spent as a junior high school student in Japan, Madelaine (often addressed as Shirohara-san) worked hard to perform well in school. Thanks to her parents, she excelled in both English and Japanese easily. However, she possessed a passion for writing, and put most of her energy into the writing club she had joined in 7th grade. It was around that time that Madelaine adopted the habit of carrying a pocket diary, where she would be able to put her thoughts and musings into writing. She has held onto it ever since, and through the toughest of times, it has been a source of solace for her as well as venting her unapparent frustration at certain things.

She also put time into the archery club, though it remained a lesser priority to effort spent into working for the writing club(such as helping compiling and publishing the school analogy). During this time, she developed a keen eye and a skill in marksmanship, but never thought much of it as being practical. Once Madelaine graduated from junior high school, her family moved to America, and so Madelaine transferred to a new school. To her dismay, there was no writing club available, but still found satisfaction in continuing to write in her pocket journal. She also joined the swim club, as she had taken lessons at an early age. Madelaine was able to cope with her new surroundings somewhat easily, since she was familiar with the English language and speech.

Other: Madelaine is democratic and level-headed, preferring to act defensively rather than show outright aggression. However, due to her circumstances, she knows that she'll have to kill to protect herself. At the very least, in a confrontation, she'll warn the hostile party to back off or else she'll have no choice but to kill them. She will not kill indiscriminately, but will not trust easily either. However, she may at times feel compelled to look after those who are helpless or cannot look after themselves, since she is used to taking care of and protecting others. Though she realizes that she has little chance of surviving, going down without a fight will not be an option for her. For Madelaine, her goal is not to survive and win, but simply to live as long as she can, in order to preserve a sense of living. Subconciously, she wants to help at least one other person live as long as is humanly possible in this game of survival.

While Madelaine does not trust easily, she is in fact honest, loyal and good-natured towards the people she does trust. Having spent most of her time focusing on her studies and taking care of her family, she has had little time to explore and experience 'the outside world' as we know it. She also believes that despite what may be happening right now, people are still good at heart. (to some degree at least) However, once she trusts someone, she tends to be naive in believing that they will do her no wrong in the future.

Along with other personal effects, Madelaine has brought along her pocket diary, a pen, and a photograph of her family. Should she become frustrated or desperate, her pocket diary will probably be the sole means of preserving her sanity.

Number: Girls #21

'The above biography is as written by LadyMakaze. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

==

Designated Weapon: Tire Iron

Conclusions: ''I have a feeling that G21 will be writing a lot in her pocket diary.... Hopefully, she doesn't wrongly place her trust in someone that'll kill her in the end. I have a feeling that someone might backstab her.''

Game Evaluations
Kills: Nanami Nishida

Killed by:  Cody Jenson

Collected Weapons: S&W .375 (from David Jackson, to Cody Jenson), Hand Axe (from Blaine Eno, to Cody Jenson)

Allies: Nanami Nishida, Adam Dodd, Amanda Jones, Hawley Faust, David Jackson, Marcus Roddy, Martyn Ferdinand, Jill Gatling

Enemies: Nanami Nishida, Cody Jenson, Blaine Eno

Mid-game evaluation:  Upon Game Start, G21 Madelaine Shirohara quickly met and allied herself with several fellow participants of the game, all of whom she heavily relied on and remained loyal to throughout the duration of their time on the island. It is to be noted that despite not having any prior association with the person in question, Madelaine quickly formed an especially close bond of friendship between herself and her earliest ally, G05 Amanda Jones. Other such close bonds include that shared with B77 Adam Dodd, B22 Hawley Faust, B11 Marcus Roddy, and B18 David Jackson. It would seem that throughout the duration of her time on the island, Madelaine depended heavily on the presence of her 'comrades', demonstrating her strong, albeit base-lacking ideals of friendship and hope. Despite the strain of ongoing circumstances, Madelaine has demonstrated a remarkably resilient will to live, finding motivation and solace in the presence of her allies and having a strong hold on her sense of self. As for her position within her group of allies, Madelaine can be seen somewhat as a source of solace and hope for the comrades around her. Having firmly refused to participate fully in the game, Subject had been of the naive ideal that escape from the island was a possibility within reach of her group, despite numerous events that have caused her hope to diminish at varying intervals.

Such events include the brief reunion between Madelaine and her childhood friend, G26 Nanami Nishida. This particular friendship had been seen by Madelaine in particular as a bond of mutual trust, caring, and understanding. However, as it quickly turns out, this ideal was simply disillusionment, a false relationship with involving underlying mistrust, lifelong resentment, and borderline passion-aggression on G26 Nanami Nishida's part. Seeing as her former best friend had decided to turn against the object of her resentment and the rest of the group, Madelaine saw fit to kill Nanami, in an effort to protect her friends.

Following this confrontation, Madelaine's sense of self began to slip. Having been disillusioned by the false friendship between Nanami and herself, Madelaine quickly regressed into the thoughts and musings in her mind, as a makeshift shelter against the circumstances around her. As a result, her voice was temporarily impaired, which lead to impaired communication between Madelaine and the rest of the group. Gradually, with little success at first, she was soon coaxed out of her silence by G05 Amanda Jones. However, only upon discovering that B22 Hawley Faust was dying did she fully emerged from her proverbial refuge. Upon the death of the person in question, Madelaine regained her sense of self, having realized that she must accept reality around her, in order to protect the friends she still had.

Despite refusing outright to play the game, Madelaine has proven to be fairly capable of looking after herself and her comrades, showing no hesitation to act in self-defense. However, it is clear that Madelaine is greatly troubled by the violence and death occurring around her, particularly that of her friends. It would be plausible to assume that Madelaine's own state of mind and level of hope depends greatly on the presence and well-being of her comrades.

End-game evaluation: Shortly after returning to the River where the deaths of Hawley and Nanami occurred, Madelaine was caught alone and unawares by the familiar form of B50, Cody Jenson. Prior to this encounter, Madelaine had delivered a crushing blow to the back of Cody's head with her tire iron, as a way of protecting her friend. With is state of mind no longer fully intact, Cody saw the perfect opportunity to take revenge, first separating her from her group, and then brutally raping her. During the assault, Madelaine's throat was rent apart as Cody bit into her neck, resulting in a slow and painful death.

Having been caught on her own, without her current comrades standing by her at the time, Madelaine quickly became an easy target. It would be plausible to assume that the presence of her friends and allies was the sole reason she lasted as long as she had done, and only once she was left alone was she made vulnerable to the miscreants of the island. It would seem that her death, and the manner of which she was killed has inflicted a significant impact on several participants in particular, namely those who were closest to her at the time of her death.

Memorable Quote(s):  {C}"I'll never play this game. But I'll never give in without fighting." -to Amanda Jones, at the Open Field

"I can protect the both of us." -to Amanda, at the Open Field

"...the desire to feed on the misery of others, the desire to hate...both are actually very normal, human things. That said, who says we can't choose to rise above all that?" -to Hawley Faust, at the Small House

''"I'd rather die than be defeated." ''-concluding her rant, at the Small House

"Both of you have something to look for, something more important to you than anything else. That fact alone may as well be the main thing keeping you from giving up completely to this game. As long as you're still living and still looking, you might as well keep on living. Because you'll know that there's always hope." -to Amanda Jones and Hawley Faust, departing the Lighthouse.

"Killing is a last resort, so don't lose your nerve, just because you're feeling inadequate about the size of your weapon." -to David Jackson, upon arriving at the Makeshift Hospital

"I swear, I'll never leave you alone again. I swear by my life." -to Nanami Nishida, at the River.

''"There's still hope for us. And it'll be together this time." ''-shortly after Hawley Faust's death, at the River.

"...I didn't want to die like this..." -last thoughts.

Trivia/Other

 * Madelaine Shirohara is a realistic parallel of LadyMakaze's trademark fantasy character, Makaze Shirohara, who has a similar personality and appearance except that Makaze is less graceful and somewhat unladylike.

Threads
Below is a list of threads that contained Madelaine, in chronological order.


 * Girl #21 - Game Start
 * Start For Girl #5
 * Hiding
 * Shelter From The Rain
 * G19 - Stings Like A Bitch
 * "Though We May Not Survive It..."
 * Starting Place For B#54
 * Back To The Scene Of The Crime...

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Madelaine Shirohara. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''

I don't care what anyone says, Madelaine was one of the most important characters in SOTF. Her upbeat optimism and easygoing demeanour really made an impact on the people she was with. Without her, I think that her group may not have stuck together. As far as her death went, it had a HUGE impact upon the game itself and solidified Cody Jenson as one of the most hated people - a moniker that he most definitely deserves. -d0ddi0slave

It's... interesting, in a way, the site's perception of her 15 years later. On one hand, people still remember and reference her, for better or for worse. On the other hand, she lives on as what is probably a meme. But I guess this is for my own thoughts. Madelaine is, as a character, not all that bad, but one of her main issues is that she is a "protagonist" in a way, which is a problem only made worse by the fact that the years have passed and only a few characters of her era are still prominent and regularly reference. There are entire characters created just to support her arc (such as Nanami) and that really takes away from her as a character, at least one in a roleplay. However, she's also... well, it was V1, so the standards weren't the absolute highest, but she was one of the more sensible and realistic characters. I'll give that to her, at least. Anyways, because this is a meme apparently- all hail our Queen Madelaine! -Yona